


Candy Coated Raindrops

by ChibiMethos



Series: Stone, Oak, & Athelas [1]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Post BotFA
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-29
Updated: 2014-01-29
Packaged: 2018-01-10 11:31:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 15
Words: 20,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1159200
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChibiMethos/pseuds/ChibiMethos
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After the Battle of Five Armies, Kili and Tauriel have a few hurtles to overcome in order to start their new life together. Thranduil, Legolas, and Thorin “help.”</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome, Readers. I promised those that read my first Hobbit story Can You Smile? that I was also working on a longer AU, where everybody lives. \\(^o^)/
> 
> Well, here it is, 34 days after I posted Can You Smile?, finished and ready for your enjoyment. For those of you that think that was forever, I’ve got stories I finished back in 2004 that I still haven’t posted. They’re finished, but I don’t like the endings, so I keep tweaking them.
> 
> If you read Can You Smile?, feel free to skip down to Chapter 2, that’s where the stories diverge.

             Fili and Kili followed Thorin through the gold storeroom, each prince overwhelmed by the sheer volume of items in the room. They kept exchanging glances, unable to keep their eyes fixed on any one point. There was just far too much to see. Finally, Fili reached out and tapped Thorin.

            “Uncle . . . perhaps _we_ could find something for Mother?”

            Thorin started, clearly having forgotten the presences of his nephews and Heirs. He nodded, and cast about for a moment, then pulled over a chest. When he opened it, the brothers were greeted by gold, silver, mithril, and platinum hair decorations. Kili whistled and Thorin slammed it shut. He handed the chest to Fili.

            “Some of these are Promise Beads, but there should be something in there Dís might like.”

            The brothers nodded, and scrambled out of the room, leaving Thorin alone. In their tent, they began sorting through the chest. Kili kept setting aside sapphire and emerald Promise Beads that would look well in red hair, and finally, Fili shut the lid of the chest.

            “Kili. Kili!”

            The younger prince started, and looked sheepishly into his brother’s disapproving blue eyes.

            “What?”

            Fili sighed. “Stop it.”

            Kili’s face went blank, and his eyes widened slightly, making him look very young and innocent. This was The Look that always got him extra sweets as a child, but at the moment, it wasn’t working on his brother.

            “Stop what?” he asked.                                                                                         

            Fili huffed, causing the braids in his mustache to flutter. “Thinking about _HER_. You and I both know Uncle Thorin will have to give his permission before _either_ of us can wed. And you know damn well he will never allow you to take an _elf_ for a bride!”

            Kili flushed and looked away. “Mother—”

            “Will _not_ be able to move him, even assuming she would _countenance_ such an alliance! And _no-one_ will be able to convince the Elf-King either! He and Uncle Thorin hate each other!”

            “But,” Kili protested. “If she is willing to wait, I know that if you were to wed first, Uncle might agree. It would remove me from the Line of Succession, but truly, what sort of king would I make anyway?”

            Fili closed his eyes, trying to relieve the pressure he could feel building behind his eyes, his mother’s last words ringing through his ears.

            _‘Look after him, Fili. You know how reckless your brother can be sometimes. You are the eldest. It’s your responsibility to make sure he stays out of trouble.’_

            “Kili—”

            “I’m serious!” Kili rushed on before Fili could voice further protest. “If we can convince Uncle and King Thranduil—” He lowered his voice, glancing out the door of the tent to be sure he wasn’t overheard.

            “—It would be strictly— _officially_ —it would be nothing more than a marriage of convenience—a political alliance. No-one has to know how we feel. And after a few years . . .well, we just got _used_ to each other . . . ”

            Fili refused to admit his brother’s argument had merit. “Kili, Thorin would rather we marry into one of the Seven Families.”

            “But they are already our allies,” Kili protested. “The Elves are not.”

            Cornered, Fili huffed again, then reopened the chest. “Fine. Whatever. Live in your little fantasy world. But do not be surprised if she will not have you. Or Uncle disowns you.”

 

 

***

 

            Tauriel slipped away from the patrols circling the gates of Erebor and into the shadow of one of the giant dwarf statues flanking the gate. Earlier, she had seen Kili lurking there, trying to catch her attention. As she passed a recess, a hand shot out and pulled her in.

            “Tauriel! It’s me! It’s Kili!”

             She stilled her fight, and looked down at him, draped in a concealing cloak and hood, which he was pushing back so she could see his eager, smiling face.

             “Kili.” She knelt to his level and hugged him. “What’s going on? Thranduil called all his armies to this place, claiming Thorin has robbed him. Has Thorin lost his mind?”

              Kili looked away. “I’m not sure, He—I think he is overwhelmed to be at home again.”

              Tauriel smiled, slightly amused and admiring that he would not speak ill of his king.

              “But that is not why I snuck out,” he changed the subject. “I don’t have much time.”

              “What is on your mind?” she asked.

              “If we can get out of this . . . mess,” he gestured to the armies surrounding the gate. “Will . . . will you . . . would you be willing . . . to come with me  . . . before my uncle, and accept my suit? I know most will think us both mad, but if we can convince our kings it is the only way to peace, and I drop my place in the Succession—” He was running his words together in his nervousness.

              Tauriel put her finger to his lips to stall the flow of his words. “My Lord. Kili, your request _is_ mad.”

               His face flushed and he started to pull away, stammering an unintelligible apology.

               “But,” she continued.  “If we go before our kings, and pledge our love before the Courts, and our willingness to wed no matter what, there will be little they can do to stop us.”

              Kili froze, then turned carefully back to her. Tauriel smiled slowly, and kissed him.

               “Love?” He stammered. She nodded, and he began fumbling into his pockets and withdrew a mithril hair bead set with emeralds and sapphires. It looked like a starlit meadow.

              “This,” he held it up. “Is a Promise Bead.”

              “Oh, Kili,” she sighed. “It’s beautiful.”

              “Tauriel, if you accept this, you are mine, no matter what.” His gentle brown eyes were serious, the gravity of what he was offering her clearly etched in his eyes. She nodded, and began pulling out her braids.

              “Put it in,” she whispered. His face lit with joy, and he surged forward, kissing her deeply, slowly.

               “I love you,” he whispered against her lips. “I don’t know why, but I do. You represent everything I was taught to hate, but — I have felt you in my heart from the moment I laid eyes on this glorious hair of yours.”

                She laughed softly and turned in his arms. “Hurry, my love. As you said, we don’t have much time.”

                 Tauriel felt him working her hair into an intricate braid, adding the weight of several beads. His fingers were deft, but his progress was slow, since he kept stopping to kiss her neck and temples. Finally, he moved back.

               “Finished, my Princess.”

               Never had Tauriel wished for a mirror more than she did at that moment, but Kili seemed to have anticipated her, and withdrew a small etched hand mirror from his pocket.

               “This is for you as well.” She took the mirror and raised it up, framing their faces side-by-side. He smiled, still blushing and then she looked at her hair.

                He’d given her an elaborate net of braids across the top and back of her head, the Promise Beads worked in in such a way that they would not be immediately seen at a glance.

                “Oh, my love! It’s beautiful! You must do my hair everyday once we are married.”

                 His grin went from lopsided embarrassed to lecherous. “I plan to. It will be my honor.”

                 Tauriel turned to face him and pulled him down to sit beside her. “Shall I allow an extra hour to rise in the mornings, my Prince?”

                 “Yes. 15 minutes for me to do your hair, and the rest will be me trying to convince you to sleep in.”

                  She laughed softly and they spent a long time courting quietly and making plans for the future, while the armies of their people prepared for war around them.

 

***

 

            Fili was waiting for his brother when he slipped back into the mountain several hours later. Kili crawled into the tent and laid out his bed roll, oblivious to his elder brother’s disapproving glare. When glaring had no effect, Fili reached over the space between their beds and punched Kili in the head.

            “ _OW_! What the hell, Fili?”

            “Where have you been, you mad bastard?! Thorin was looking for you! I told him you were out shooting to see if your leg was fully recovered. I _cannot_ tell him that kind of a whopper again!”

            Kili nodded, and crawled into bed, crossing his arms behind his head with a happy sigh.

“Brother, I _am_ a fool. I love a woman so far beyond my reach she might as well _be_ the stars she reveres.”

            Fili groaned and hit Kili in the face with his pillow. Kili began laughing.

            “So you _were_ with her. I assume she accepted your proposal, daft as it is?”

            “Yes, brother, she did. I gave her three of the Promise Beads.”

            “ _KILI_! Now I know you have taken leave of your senses! One I can understand, _but all three?!_ You’re not getting married tomorrow!”

            “I know. It could be decades, but I want it to be loud and clear to all that Tauriel is _mine_.”

He sighed again. “She even let me braid them into her hair. By Aulë, but she has glorious hair!”

            Fili wanted to scream in frustration, even as he felt a twinge of jealousy and sadness for his besotted little brother.

            There was little hope of Kili and Tauriel ever marrying, and if they did, there was a good chance they would be banished by both races. They and their children (if any) would be exiles in the World. Kili would eventually die, as would his sons and daughters, but Tauriel would be forever without a People.

           Fili pointed this out to Kili, who waved away his words.

            “We could live in Imladris, if I apologize _very nicely_ to Lord Elrond for our behavior the last time we were there. Or Men will take us in. They are less particular, as long as you have skills to offer. You know this.”

            Fili growled, annoyed that _now_ his brother was applying logic. “Mother will be disappointed.”

           “Yes,” Kili sighed, easily picturing the look on Dís’ face. “But, perhaps after we have a few little ones, she will forgive us, for their sake.”

           There was no getting around him! Kili had a counter for Fili’s every argument. With a huff, Fili snuffed the candle.

            “Forget it. Since you will not see reason, I will wish you every possible happiness, and if Uncle banishes you, when I am king, you may come back home.”

             Fili could hear the smile in his brother’s voice. “Thank you, brother, but my Princess will wither in the Mountain. I would forsake our Halls so that she may see the stars.”

            Fili sat up at this, and stared towards Kili’s bed, shocked beyond speech. So this is what a fool in love sounded like! He shook his head and lay back down.

            “I don’t know if I’m jealous and envy you or if you are mad and need to be pitied, but the doors of Erebor will always be open, Little Brother.”

            “Thank you, Big Brother. You always look out for me.”

 

***

 

            Legolas squinted at Tauriel as she floated back into her tent.

            “Where were you? You were missed at dinner.”

            “Was I?” She unslung her bow and quiver and began unhooking her swords and daggers. “Did the king ask for me?”

            “No.” He frowned at her hair. “What. Is. That?”

            “What’s what?” Tauriel sat down to pull off her boots.

            “In your hair! Only _dwarves_ wear their hair in that manner. Dwarf princesses.”

            Tauriel couldn’t help but smile. “Truly? Well, they do have a lot of hair to style.”

            Legolas stormed over and yanked her to her feet.   “Father will _never_ allow you to wed that creature! He hates dwarves, and you dishonor him and all the centuries he has stood as your Guardian by even _contemplating_ such an abomination!”

            Tauriel jerked out of his grasp, resisting the urge to palm one of her throwing knives and hurl it at the prince’s head. Because of her agreement with Kili, and his rank, she and Legolas were equals now, and she had never appreciated being manhandled.

           “And yet, for all the centuries I have lived at Court, the only being who understands and respects me is a dwarf prince at the beginning of his life!”

           “Yes! _Beginning!_ You are forgetting his mortality. Father will strip you of your rank, and lock you up until the dwarf dies! Let go of this foolishness, Tauriel.” He paused, searching her face, then continued in a gentler tone.

           “For both your sakes. He belongs with his people and so do you. Let him find some . . . _bearded_ female of his own kind and live his life in peace, buried alive under the mountain.”

           “You forget, Legolas, that there are more males than females among the Dwarves. He may never have a chance to marry, and I know I will not! The king will not let a common Silvan Elf marry at Court!”

           “He will banish you!” Legolas hissed.

           “To a carefree life among the stars with my husband,” she shot back.

            “He lives under a mountain,” Legolas countered. “You will hardly be seeing the stars.”

             “Perhaps. But as you said, his life is indeed short. I can live under the mountain for 200 years. It is nothing.”

             “Your children will be accepted no-where. My father will see to that.”

             “That too depends.” Tauriel resumed her seat. “Perhaps you should leave the fate of my elflings to me. And my husband.”

             “You will regret this, Tauriel. I will say nothing for now, but the road you are on will not end well for anyone.”

              He went away, and Tauriel pulled the mirror out of her pocket and traced the edge designs.

              ‘ _We will make our own happiness,_ a’maelamin _, my beloved. We are all the Children of Eru. The Valar will not forsake us._ ’

 

  *** 


	2. Chapter 2

         Blood. There was so much blood. Tauriel was up to her ankles in gore and the smell was starting to sicken her, but she kept looking. She had seen the dwarf princes briefly during the battle, but soon lost sight of them in the melee. Now it was over, and the remaining Men, Elves and Dwarves combed the battlefield for survivors and their dead.

            Tauriel searched the battlefield before Erebor with almost frantic eyes. She needed to find Kili—must find him! She saw Gandalf, Legolas, and several of the dwarves in Thorin’s company, as well as various of her own soldiers, but the Heirs of Durin were no-where to be seen. Frustration setting in, Tauriel closed her eyes and tried to stretch her senses to feel him. 

            The first time they were intimate, the night Kili proposed, Tauriel had felt the Link growing between herself and the young prince. This was the same link that had driven her father to the Sea after the death of her mother. Though she had resisted it for centuries, furious with her father for this weakness—it seemed the Valar had deemed her Soul Mate to be a dwarf, and a painfully young one at that.

            _‘Please,’_ she thought. _‘Kili, where are you?’_ Then she felt more that heard a motion to her left. She turned and, seeing the princes, began to run.

            “Kili!” His dark head snapped up and despite the obvious pain in his eyes, he was pleased to see her. As she dropped to the ground before Kili, she saw Fili trying to free Thorin from a great press of bodies. He glanced back at her frantically.

            “Help me! He’s still alive!” Tauriel moved behind the dwarf king and took hold of his arms to help Fili pull him loose. Gandalf and the others arrived as they set Thorin gently on a spot of clear ground. The wizard began examining the king while Tauriel focused on the brothers.

            “Are either of you seriously hurt?”

            Fili shook his head. “I’m not. Just the usual cuts and bruises.”

            Kili grimaced and tried to stand, but couldn’t. “I think my leg is broken.”

Tauriel’s eyebrow rose. “The one I _just_ healed?”

            He offered her a sheepish, but adorable grin, and she shook her head and began examining him. The other dwarves, not aware of her skills, moved to stop her, but Oin held them at bay.

            “ ‘Sa’right, she knows what she’s doing, lads. She helped Kili before.”

            Bofur came forward. “What do you need?”

            “Thorin moved to the hospital tent,” she said without looking up. In a few minutes, the king was ensconced in a clean bed, and the dwarves had returned to help Fili transport Kili.

            In the hospital, Tauriel assisted Gandalf in treating Thorin, while another elf nurse set Kili’s leg. When Thorin was stable, she went to sit with Kili.

            “You promised your mother you’d be careful,” she scolded gently. He grinned.

            “It was a battle, Tauriel. All things considered, I came out pretty good. So did Fili.”

            Fili nodded in agreement, keeping his eyes on Thorin, who was finally stirring. Tauriel returned to his bedside.

            “Thorin. Welcome back.” She held up three fingers.

            “Three.” He answered before she asked. She pulled Fili up beside her. “Sister-son.”

            “Which one?” She pressed.

            “Eldest. Fili. My Heir.” Tauriel nodded.

            “You got hit pretty good, but it seems your hard head has finally done you a favor. You can get up day after tomorrow.” She started to turn away, then paused. “Also, the battle is won. The orc and goblin armies are defeated. As you rebuild Erebor, please do not forget that the Men of Lake Town are your allies.”

            She returned to Kili and the two of them were soon talking quietly, their head together. Thorin watched her with narrowed eyes and a frown as Kili suddenly took her hand. Fili deemed it prudent to pull up a seat that blocked his uncle’s view of the couple. Thorin sighed and gave Fili a look that said he knew what the boy was doing. Tauriel laughed at something Kili said, and Thorin looked ill.

            “Fili, I’m not blind. I can see what she has in her hair. Why is an _elf_ wearing Erebor jewels? Those are intended for the royal ladies of our House!”

            “I believe . . . she got them from Kili, Uncle,” Fili answered truthfully.

            “Why?” There was almost a growl to the word.

            “I do not know. We are close, but not together _every_ waking moment.” Fili hoped Thorin didn’t take his tone the wrong way, but the king was working himself into a rage over Tauriel’s hair decorations and didn’t notice.

            “She must have tricked him. Your brother—”

            “Owes her his life,” Fili cut off that line of thought before it could develop further.

            “Tauriel was the one who healed Kili at Lake Town. And she healed _you_ here. Maybe he gave them to her as a thank you.”

            Thorin shook his head. “A thank you? By dressing her as a Lady of Erebor? I think not, Fili. What _else_ happened in Lake Town? Did Kili _say_ anything . . . _odd_?”

            _‘Define odd,’_ Fili thought. “He was delirious with a fever,” he argued. “What one says in those moments often amounts to nonsense. He tried to talk, but I couldn’t understand him.”

            Thorin couldn’t disagree, but the way that Elf-Witch was cuddled up to his nephew worried him. While they were in the Blue Mountains, Kili was the least experienced with the opposite sex. The dwarf women found his lack of beard and delicate features rather off-putting, so while Fili broke hearts _in_ the Mountain, Kili had turned his natural charm and cheeky grins on the human females in the trading towns around the Mountain. _They_ though he was adorable. And Thorin recalled with a sigh that he had caught Kili flirting with the Elf-maids in Rivendell as well. This made him thoughtful, and Fili relaxed slightly as his uncle’s face cleared.

              _‘Perhaps,’_ Thorin mused. _‘This whole thing_ was _at Kili’s instigation after all. He finally found a female willing to give him a chance.’_

The thought caused a shudder of disgust, but Kili couldn’t stay a boy forever. Still, one couldn’t allow this sort of thing to carry on for very long. Word might get out.

            “Fili, let your brother know that flirting is all well and good as far as it goes, but there are far more important matters facing us at the moment that he needs to be focusing on.”

            Fili glanced back at Kili. He was kissing Tauriel’s hand.

             “I’ll . . . let him know,” he agreed with a sigh.

 

  *** 


	3. Chapter 3

             While serious, Kili’s injury was not life threating, so he was moved to the soldiers’ camp that night to make room in the hospital. Tauriel managed to get him secured in her tent, and invited Fili to join them. Fili wasn’t complaining since it was more than large enough to sleep them all and it was warm. 

             At the moment, he was poking the brazier while Tauriel and Kili snuggled facing each other on the larger of the two beds. He could hear them murmuring to each other, but after a while, they grew quite. He put the poker down, and dragging his bed closer to theirs, sat down, wrapping himself up in the blankets.

            “Kili, you still awake?”

              His back to his brother, Kili nodded. He was playing with the ends of Tauriel’s hair, which he’d happily spent almost an hour combing after supper. Even Fili had to admit she had nice hair, and he wanted to touch it himself to see if it was as soft as it looked, but that would have been the height of disrespect to both Kili and Tauriel.

             Fili cleared his throat. “Kili, Thorin is suspicious of you two.” There. It was better to just blurt it out and get it over with.

             Kili turned and propped himself up with a wince. “Why? About what?”

             Fili sighed. “He _saw_ you in the hospital, stupid. He said that flirting is all well and good, but now’s not the time. Or the place. Kili, I _told_ you he would never agree to this. He’s willing to look the other way for now because of the girls—”

             Kili rolled his eyes and Tauriel stared back and forth between the brothers.

             “Because what?” she asked. “What’s wrong with Kili?”

              Fili glanced at his brother, silently asking for permission and Kili flopped back down on the bed with an offhanded wave. Fili took a deep breath.

              “Tauriel, I don’t . . . suppose . . . it’s struck _you_ as _odd_ . . .  that Kili’s . . . beard is so short?”

              She shook her head, and smoothed a finger over the stubble lining his chin. “No. I like it.”

            Kili blushed and Fili laughed, amused by his younger brother’s reaction. “Well, the . . . uh . . . Local Girls . . . you understand . . . well, they _don’t_.”

            She shrugged and kissed Kili. “Their loss.”

            Fili grinned. “Well, you see . . . Kili’s never let that stop him. He just flirts with human girls and  . . . apparently . . . elf-maids. You all don’t seem . . . _distracted_ by the . . . lack of beard.”

            Tauriel frowned, not liking Fili’s tone. “I just thought it was short since he’s so young.”

            “Tauriel, he’s _77_! Some guys are just cursed with short beards.”

            Tauriel kissed Kili again and rubbed her cheek along his chin. “It’s not a curse. It just means no dwarf-maid will be trying to take my husband away from me.”

            Fili rolled his eyes and lay down. “Kili, you’d better be praising Mahal daily you’ve managed to catch the eye of the _one_ female in Middle Earth that thinks your “beard” is cute!”

            “Oh, believe me, I am!”

              Tauriel was studying him thoughtfully, as it registered in Fili’s mind that she just called Kili ‘husband’.

              “Hey,” she asked before he could ask her why she had said that. “Is that why you don’t have a lot of body hair in general?”

               Fili smirked and answered for his brother. “I used to tease him about being a hairy half-elf.”

               Tauriel gaped. “Why?”

                 “His beard won’t grow, he’s too tall, has _very_ little hair for a proper dwarf, has always loved archery,” Fili ticked off the list on his fingers. “He likes flowery poetry, he’s really light on his feet—I could go on.”

                Kili’s face was red by this point, and Tauriel leaned over to kiss his cheek. “Oh! Is mean old Fili casting aspersions on Lady Dís’ character?” she asked in baby talk, causing Kili to laugh and Fili to wince.

            “Okay,” he conceded. “I hadn’t considered it _that_ way. Sorry, Kili.”

            “It’s okay, Big Brother.”

            They fell silent. Kili continued playing with Tauriel’s hair for a while and she was nearly asleep when Fili spoke again.

            “Just . . . be more cautions, you two. I have a feeling it’s already too late to separate you, but Thorin and Thranduil will not understand.”

            “Indeed,” Tauriel muttered.

            “I think we can still convince Mother, Fili.” Kili added optimistically. “She married Father against Uncle Thorin and Grandfather’s wishes after all. It would be hypocritical of her to say no. Once we have her permission, there will be little Thorin can do to stop us.”

            “Maybe, but Mother had no influence over the Elf-king. What if he locks Tauriel away or kills her?”

            “I sincerely doubt it will be all that dramatic.” Tauriel assured him, refusing to acknowledge that Legolas had told her his father would likely do just that.

“At most, I’ll be stripped of my rank and banished.”

             Fili sat up again. “Tauriel,” he desperately wanted to know why she had called Kili husband when they were technically only engaged. “How can you and my brother _possibly_ be married already?”

  
            She flushed and Kili’s eyebrow rose. “Kili, you remember what happened the night you proposed?” Kili grinned and nodded. “Well, according to Elven laws, we’re married.”

           He leaned over to kiss her with a happy laugh. “ _Really_?!”

           Fili was less excited. “I see. And . . . what will you do when my brother dies?”

           Tauriel took Kili’s hand in hers and slowly began tracing his fingers. “I will live a mortal life. When he finally dies, I will fade.”

            Fili frowned. “But elves can only be killed.”

             “If . . . our souls are Linked to our spouse, when they die, the Valar has given us the option to simply . . . _stop_ living if the grief is too great to bear. Sometimes, the urge to rejoin your partner is very strong. You can follow them within hours or at most, a few weeks. Sometimes, the Link is weak, or not there at all. Then, you mourn for a while, and go about your business or even remarry. But that rarely happens.”

            Kili had sat up while she was speaking. “And us? Are we . . . Linked?”

             “It might be too soon to know, Little Brother.” Fili automatically tried to reassure his sibling, but Tauriel shook her head.

              “Our Link is very strong, my Prince, which _is_ odd, considering how short a time we have been together. That can only mean that you and I were Separated by the Valar. They sent us into the World at different times and as different races to make a point. The chances were slim that we would find each other, but we have.

             I have lived alone for 900 years. And now, I am assured that I get to spend at least the next 200 or so with the one person on earth that makes me happy, and then I’m Free.”

            She kissed his palm. “When we leave this World, the Valar will Rejoin our souls as one. How is that not beautiful?”

            Kili was staring at Tauriel with tears in his eyes and Fili was feeling contrite for having even brought it up. Still, she looked very happy at prospect of the future that awaited them.

           “Tauriel, I promise, no matter what, I will do _everything_ in my power to keep you two together. I swear it.”

 

*** 


	4. Chapter 4

          Fili lay awake for hours afterwards, watching Tauriel and Kili sleeping, peaceful curled up in each other’s arms. As dawn finally approached, he rose and asked one of the guards on duty to fetch him writing implements. Once they were brought, he sat at Tauriel’s too high table and wrote a long letter to his mother, reassuring her of their current status.

 

_Mother,_

_I know you have always said Kili is reckless,_

_and I’ve always felt like he was a really_

_short, hairy elf. Well, in a way, we were_

_both right._

Please _, promise me that you will not get_

_angry over what I am about to tell you._

_Truly, two lives (and likely the will of the gods)_

_are at stake here._

_Kili is married._

_To an elf._

_Okay, take a breath, and know you_ did

_indeed just read that._

_Now, let me explain . . ._

***

 

Late October:

 

            Lady Dís stared at Fili’s letter three weeks later in a mixture of confusion, exasperation, and frustration. To get to Erebor under optimum conditions would take at least two months, and if this missive was anything to go by, her children needed her a month ago! As it stood, it was already too late in the year to begin traveling, which meant, as urgent as his letter sounded, there was nothing Dís could _do_ about it for the next five months. Much could have happened while the messenger birds were in route, and only Mahal knew what Thorin and Thranduil could or would be doing to “help” her youngest son and his wife in the meantime.

 Fili had gotten Ori to sketch the girl and had included the drawing with the letter. Frankly, she just looked like every other elf to Dís, but Fili assured her the girl had a head of _glorious_ red hair ( _A colour not at all prized by Elves_ ) and lively green eyes.

 

_Honestly, the more time I spend with her, the more_

_I understand why Kili took to her. He was_

_fascinated from the moment he first saw her._

            Dís glanced down at the pages again. Fili said that according to Elven law, Kili and this elf were wed, but by the laws of Men and Dwarrow, they were only engaged. Thorin was likely having none of it, so the couple would be forced to sneak about to see each other. Hopefully, Thranduil was more in the dark than Thorin, but if _he_ found out, he might just kill Kili, and by extension this elf—

            “Tauriel.” Dís forced herself to say it out loud. It was her new daughter’s name after all, and she needed to get comfortable with it. With a sigh, Dís plopped inelegantly into a chair.

            Her brother she could handle, but Thranduil — she recalled the aloof, blond king. While he was nothing to her eyes, the human women of Dale had always spoken of his penetrating blue eyes and long pale hair with a lusty sigh. The few times they had met when he came to greet her grandfather at Court, she had found him cold, conceited, indolent, and greedy.

            But all that aside, he was her daughter-in-law’s guardian and her boss. Without his permission, nothing could be accomplished towards formally uniting the couple. He was thousands of years old, but cared nothing for the lives of others. Still, there _had_ to be a way to get to him.

            Nothing was being accomplished by sitting, however, so Dís called her household together. They were already in the middle of packing to travel to Erebor.

            “For now, carry on as you are. As soon as the weather warms, I must be ready to travel. I’ve gotten a letter from Prince Fili and need get to Erebor in all haste.”

            The servants began murmuring, and Dís put up a hand for silence.

            “Everyone is in as good a health as can be expected. But there are circumstances forming that I must see to.” They began to disperse, much relieved that the princes were safe, but she called her dress maker to wait. She had special instruction for him

            “Bring _all_ the fabrics. I will need several Court gowns by the time we arrive and you will have a large order to make special soon after we get there.”

            He nodded. “The gold and silver silks as well?”

            “I don’t care if you have to commandeer an entire ship,” she told him. “So you can bring the work shop along, building and all, but you _will_ need everything at your disposal, I assure you.”

            He bowed, and departed. Dís looked down at Fili’s letter again, then folded it up and tucked it in with her private papers. There was much left to do and even less time to get it all done.

 

  *** 


	5. Chapter 5

May (7 months later):

 

            Lady Dís and her household finally arrived to find Erebor in chaos. Stone masons were yelling at apprentices perched high on scaffolding set up around the doors of the mountain. Carpenters, carvers, cooks, and all manner of workmen were moving about in a controlled frenzy.

Dís had deliberately not told her older brother when to expect her, so she wasn’t surprised to see that there was no-one to greet her. However, as soon as she and her ladies entered the walkway, they were noticed and silence began to fall in a wave over the assembled men. A few of the older one recognized her and bowed as she passed.

            “It’s Lady Dís. The Princess of Erebor has returned,” was heard rumbling through the crowd. Near the doors, Dís saw someone dart inside and just as she was preparing to step over the threshold, a pair of shirtless young dwarrow emerged, running at her full bore.

            “Mother!”

 Dís stopped walking and enveloped her sons in a welcoming hug. Everyone cheered. The princes were far too old to be behaving that way, but everyone was willing to allow it. She was their only living parent and they had been away from home for a long time.

            Dís kissed her sons then set them away from her to look them over. They had filled out in the time she had not seen them. Smiling, she told them so. Fili grinned.

            “We had to! You wouldn’t _believe_ some of the things we saw on the way here!”

            She looked at Kili. He had always been her favorite. Born after his father’s death, she had feared the boy would be rudderless as he grew, but Thorin had stepped into the vacant role of father without prompting and helped form both of her sons into dwarrow she could be proud of.

            “Kili. I see your beard still hasn’t come in.”

            He flushed and grinned. “I don’t care.”

            Dís’ eyebrow rose at this, and her eyes darted to Fili, who shook his head slightly. Very well, she would get the story out of them later. Thorin came out after them, pulling a tunic over his head.

            “Dís. How kind of you to let me know you were on your way.”

            Dís smiled mockingly at her older brother. “Would you have had Erebor in a more presentable condition if I had told you, brother? I think not.” She turned to face the workmen.

            “The place has never looked better. The dwarrow of Erebor will be returning to a home more splendid than any in Middle Earth!” The workmen cheered and huzzahd as Dís and her escorts moved indoors.

            Inside, the city was alive with the voices of dwarrow shouting directions and commands, hammers ringing, and the subtle roar of fire from the mines and forges below. It sounded and smelled like home. Dís smiled at her brother.

            “I thought you were mad, Thorin. I truly did. I was sure I’d sent my sons with you to die. But you have reclaimed our home. Congratulations.”

            Thorin half smiled at his sister, and offered her his arm. Together, the Royal family moved through the web of buildings to the palace. Balin was there to greet Dís.

            “My lady, how good it is to see you again.” Dís smiled at the old dwarf.

            “And it does me good to see you, Balin. Thank you for keeping my brother in one piece.” She looked around the room where they were standing. The Arkenstone was set once again in the recess above the throne, and she frowned at it.

            “Thorin—”

            “I’m not leaving it there, sister. There is a place being made for it, and once it goes, there it will remain.”

            She nodded and turned to her sons. “I am tired beyond all belief. Show me where I may sleep in this mess.”

            Kili took her hand. “Don’t worry, Mother. We did your rooms first so you would have somewhere nice and quiet to go.” He led her through the palace to the family wing, Fili trailing after them while Thorin got back to work. He pointed left down the hall.

            “Fili and I are sharing a room down there.” He pointed at the door directly in front of them. “Uncle is in that room, since it’s a suite and he can have meetings there.” He turned right.

            “Your rooms are down here.” Dís followed her son. They finally arrived at a large room. Kili pushed open the doors, and Dís was pleased to see a large sitting room, a bath, a dressing room, and behind that, a well-appointed bedroom.

            “It looks lovey, boys. Thank you.” They grinned and started towards the outer door.

            “Then we shall leave you to your rest.” Dís put down the bag she was carrying.

            “Not so fast.” They paused. “Show me where your room is.” They led her into the opposite hall, and down to their room.

            Fili and Kili were sharing a middling sized, generally untidy room that faced the western side of the mountain. It was crowded with the bulk of two huge beds, a table, two easy chairs, two dressers, several rugs, and was strewn about with their clothes, boots, weapons, and Kili’s books. Dís shook her head.

            “Why are you two sharing a room, anyway?”

            Fili shrugged. “We had to. None of the other rooms were ready to live in when we got here. Besides, Uncle thought our resources were better spent preparing the city to live in. This building was still standing at least.”

            Kili nodded. “So we agreed to share lodging and have been helping with the rebuilding. It’s no big deal. It’s not like we haven’t shared a room before.”

            “No,” their mother agreed. “But you were children then.” She sighed, and shut the door, trapping all three of them in the suddenly too small space. Fili and Kili looked at each other, slightly alarmed.

            Dís took her sons by the arm and dumped them into the two chairs by the window.

            “Now,” she told them. “I have heard—and I won’t tell you how—that you, my son,” she turned hard eyes on Kili. “Have done something reckless.”

            “Mo-Mother?”

            She held up her hand. “I’m not finished yet. I sent you two with your uncle to reclaim a city, not get _married_!”

            Kili went pale, and Fili relaxed. He knew their mother would have _something_ to say on the matter when she didn’t write back to him, but he was surprised she was ready to have it out so quickly. But, then again, she had had several months to ruminate over the whole situation. He glanced at Kili, and felt a little sorry for him.

            “Don’t deny it. How on earth did you manage to get tangled up with an _elf_!?” Dís sighed. “Of all things on this earth, elves and orcs are the two things Thorin hates with almost equal passion. You know that. How did you end up with this female?”

            Kili glanced at Fili, who gave him a long look. Kili sighed and straighten up slowly in his seat.

            _‘A dwarf that chooses to take a wife must guard her as his greatest treasure,’_ he thought, not sure why that saying popped into his head. But it was true. Tauriel was his greatest treasure, even though he had not been able to get away from Thorin’s watchful eyes long enough to try and see her in months. Kili looked at his mother. He needed Dís’ help if he wanted to bring his wife to Erebor. He took a deep breath.

            “Her name, Mother, is Tauriel.”

 

  *** 


	6. Chapter 6

             A few days later, Dís pulled Balin aside and asked him to get her any and everything he could find on King Thranduil.

            “Everything?”

            “Anything _and_ everything, Balin. This elf is our neighbor again. I was a child the last time I saw him. If Thorin wants there to be peace, I know I must be the one to broker it. So I must know this Elf-king. I want to know his tastes, his passions, his pursuits.  I must know his family, his greatest fears, and if you can find them, his darkest secrets. What are his rumors; what do his own people think of him? Everything, Balin.”

            Balin bowed. “I’ll do what I can. I’ve already been looking into him anyway, so for now, I will bring you what I have, but what you are asking for could take many months to get.”

            Dís smiled not unkindly at the old retainer. “Work as quickly as you can, Balin. I have every confidence in you. And bring me what you already have. I want to look it over right away.”

            An hour later, while Thorin and his nephews went to help out in forges for the day, Dís sat in the quiet of her room, the door firmly bolted against interruptions and began learning what she could about the King of the Woods.

 

***

 

            Dís cornered Thorin in his rooms the following week. He was taking a day off, though Fili and Kili were on road repair duty. Thorin knew he needed to spend some time with his sister, and as she was his acting queen, they needed to begin looking over the paperwork and boring bits of running a kingdom. To say the least, when Dís knocked, he was surprised to see her. Thorin stepped aside to let her in.

            “I was just thinking about you, little sister. Please, sit down. We have a few things we need to start—”

            “Yes, Thorin, we do.”

            Thorin frowned slightly. “What do you mean?”

            “I mean, that I have been here almost two weeks already, and you haven’t taken me to see King Thranduil or King Bard yet. Like it or not, the Men and the Elves are our neighbors. It would never do to rejoin them on such a bad diplomatic footing. We must make a formal visit.”

            Thorin sighed. “Yes, I suppose you are right.”

            Dís nodded firmly. “Of course I am. The only thing that has changed about my position from when we were in the Blue Mountains is that we are back in Erebor.” She took a breath.

            “You are not going to like what I have to say next.”

             “Why not?”

              “Because it will be a truth you would very much like to avoid.  We have the Elf-king in our good will. To keep him there, as an ally, we _must_ form an alliance with him.”

              Thorin looked at his sister as if she had taken leave of her senses, then he laughed.

              “Dís, in case you have forgotten, Thranduil only has a son. And you have two.” He stood up and marched to his window, which overlooked the lake. “There can be no such alliance as the kind I believe you are alluding to. And just as well, I say.”

               “You are wrong,” she told him in a quiet, firm voice. “There is a way.”

                “Unless you or he are hiding a girl child—”

                “Thorin. Shut up and listen.”

                 Thorin was so shocked by Dís’ blunt tone that he fell silent. Dís explained her idea.

                  “Kili will likely never be king. I love both of my children, but let us look at things realistically. One day, Fili will marry and have his own Heirs. Kili . . . will not. Dwarrow maids dislike the fact that he has no beard, his height, his narrow features, and everything else about him. He’s a good fighter, but he’s gentle and they don’t want that.”

                Thorin snorted.

                 “Let me finish.” Dís glared at her brother. “I have been looking into the Elf-king. Several centuries ago, the half grown daughter of one of his lesser nobles was given into King Thranduil’s care following the death of her parents.”

                  Thorin’s blood ran cold. He dearly hoped she wasn’t about to say what he was sure she was about to say.

                   “This girl was fostered in his house by his queen before her death. When she was grown, he placed her in the guard, likely to keep her away from his son, who I understand is fond of the girl.”

                  “Dís, no.”

                   “Hush! I’m not finished yet. This girl, now Captain of the guard, is still under Thranduil’s care and will be until the day she is wed. If we can get the king to agree, Kili and this foster daughter can be married. I realize the link would be tenuous, but I believe I can convince Thranduil to adopt the girl formally, therefore making her a princess.”

                  Thorin turned abruptly away from the window. “Dís, this is madness! I forbid you to speak of it! I will not allow my nephews to marry—”

                  “Marry what? A daughter of kings? Really, Thorin! Do you think every marriage is between loving couples? We are royalty! We rarely get to choose whom we marry. Fili will have to marry a princess from one of the Seven Families, but that will be ages away. We need Thranduil as a permanent ally and we need him _now_ , while we still have his goodwill! Marrying Kili to one of his people is the only logical choice! Yes, I realize his children will be half-elves, but what of it?”

                  “What of it? You know how I feel about Thranduil—”

                   “Yes, I do. But that was almost 200 years ago, Brother! We must look at the here and now! And this here and this now had us a third tier kingdom, surrounded by established neighbors. We were attacked by goblins and orcs. They came here _deliberately_ to attack us! What would you have done without the aid of Men and the wood elves? We would not be having this talk! Instead, Dain would be King of Erebor and I would have no family left to speak of!”

                    She sat back. “Believe me, Brother, I have looked at this from all angles. I have even asked my sons how they feel about it. They are young and have not the prejudices of the last generation. They grew up with Men and Dwarrow and Halflings. I wanted that for them.  And now, I want a permanent peace. If marring an elf is the first step towards that peace, Thorin, we must take it.”

                      She searched his face for a moment. “Fili doesn’t much care since he won’t be the one getting married, but Kili said he’s seen the girl. He said she’s pretty, for an elf. So that’s a step. I have a horror of ugly grandchildren. Let us go and see King Thranduil. We must— _you_ must put aside your dislike of him. We have no other options.”

                     Dís took her leave, and Thorin returned to the window, furious with his sister and knowing she was right. 

 

***

 

                     Thorin refused to speak of the matter for several weeks, and Kili was sure his mother had failed.

                      “What will we do, Fili?” he asked his brother one night after they returned from work. “If Mother can’t convince Thorin, what chance do we have against Thranduil? I have to find a way to get out of here and see Tauriel. We’ll just have to elope.”

                      Fili laughed. “Don’t be so melodramatic, Little Brother! We don’t yet know if Mother was successful or not.”

                      “Her silence worries me,” Kili said, dropping onto his bed. “And I miss my wife. We haven’t seen each other in _ages_.”

                       Fili smiled and clapped his brother on the shoulder. “I know it won’t be much comfort, but perhaps we’ve just been indoors too long. Let’s go up to the Overlook, have a smoke, and see how the rebuilding in Dale is progressing.”

                      Kili nodded halfheartedly, and began looking around for his pipe and tobacco pouch. There was a firm knock, and Lady Dís strode into the room without waiting for permission.

                     “Good. You’re both here.” She shut the door. “I have finally convinced your uncle to agree to an alliance with Thranduil. Don’t get excited yet,” she told Kili as he shot to his feet at the news.

                     “We still have to get Thranduil. Clean up in here, and get yourselves ready. Very shortly, we will be making a formal visit to the court of King Thranduil.”

                     Kili sprang across the room and enveloped his mother in a smothering hug. “Mother, I love you so much! You’re too good to us.”

                     “Yes, I am.” Dís agreed, pushing him off. “And I hope that when you have children, they will give you just as much trouble. And that you will go to any length to see them happy.”

                     “Yes, Mother,” Fili and Kili agreed in unison.

                      “A word of advice,” Dís told her sons as she turned to leave. “Do not seem too eager about this whole arrangement, or Thranduil may say no just to spite you.”

                      Dís left her sons. As she closed the door, she hear Kili cheering, and smiled.

                      Yes, this was the right course.

   *** 


	7. Chapter 7

July:

 

            Spring always came late to this part of the world, and summer was always short. Legolas and Tauriel were out finishing off the last of the winter spiders’ nests, as well as removing the new ones. They were on their way back to the palace when they heard a horn sound, announcing the imminent arrival of a head of state. They shared a confused glance and hurried their steps.

Tauriel racked her brain, trying to remember if Thranduil had mentioned this impending visit. Lately, she had not been feeling well, and getting through every day was becoming a chore. She was starting to forget things soon after they were mentioned to her.

            Legolas was worried, but she put him off, claiming fatigue, which in and of itself was true. The rebuilding in Erebor, Dale, and Lake Town were a security and bureaucratic nightmare as she was constantly juggling the paperwork, manners, and rules of three peoples, often at the same time.

And with all that was happening, she hadn’t seen the Erebor Princes in almost a year. As soon as he was released from the hospital, Thorin had whisked his nephews back to Erebor. There was no-way Tauriel could go with them, not even to nurse Kili, so she had rather reluctantly returned to Thranduil’s court. She wanted desperately to see Kili, but she was always needed elsewhere (she suspected Legolas’ doing) when Thorin and his nephews came to Mirkwood.

            The lack of physical contact and the fact that they couldn’t even write to each other for fear of discovery was actually making Tauriel physically ill.

            The pair arrived at the palace and Legolas continued inside to change his clothes. Tauriel looked around at her guards. The formally entry was already prepared and the sentries were in their places.

            “Report!” she barked.

            A guard bowed. “We just received word that Lady Dís, sister and acting Queen to King Thorin, will be arriving in less than an hour.”

            Tauriel was silently relieved. She hadn’t forgotten then. “Is the area secure?” she asked, knowing it was.

            The guard bowed again. “Yes, Captain.”

            She nodded once and marched into the Throne Room. Thranduil was waiting for her.

            “Ah, Tauriel, there you are. I saw Legolas sprint through here a moment ago.”

            She bowed. “Sire. We heard the horn on our way back. We had to run—”

            “Yes, yes. Are the spiders removed?”

            “For now, though I might recommend the removal of some of the undergrowth—”

            “NO! Continue with the standard patrols and clearance policy. Go change before the dwarves get here. You stink.”

            Tauriel bowed. It seemed she was to be on duty for this visit. And if her current luck was going to hold, the princes would get left at home.

             “Uniform or Court dress?” Sometimes, Thranduil had her dress as a noble woman to better patrol the perimeter unseen.

              The king’s smirk was not pleasant. “Court dress. Don’t be late.”

               Tauriel bowed again and swept out. She hated wearing Court dress. The narrow skirts hobbled her movements as did the fitted sleeves, and to top it off, all of her frocks were at least two years out of style.

                In her room, a maid already had a tub of hot water waiting. Tauriel stripped, took down her braids and had an abbreviated bath in the herb scented water. She and the maid managed to dry and style her hair with the beads Tauriel insisted on wearing no matter what, and get her dressed in twenty minutes. With her short sword at her hip, Tauriel arrived back in the Throne Room seconds ahead of Legolas.

            The king flicked his eyes over her dress. “Really, Tauriel?”  
            She refused to back down from his gaze. “It’s the newest one I own,” she insisted.

             Dark blue, like her dress uniform, the skirt was embroidered lightly with gold stars and other celestial objects. This year’s _modé_ however, was for birds and flowers. Legolas smirked and stood below his father’s feet, while Tauriel took her place beside and slightly behind the throne as the door opened.

            Almost instantly, the heavy pressure that had been weighing on her for months was gone, and Tauriel nearly fainted from the sensation.

            Thorin, resplendent in a green tunic and sporting a longer beard, neatly trimmed with silver beads strode into the room. Beside him was his sister, Lady Dís. While she was, at first glance a softer version of Thorin, upon closer inspection, she was a handsome, if rather formidable looking woman.

             She was wearing a burgundy gown full alive with birds and flowers and other small animals. Nearly equal in height to her brother, Tauriel was curious to note that her coloring favored Kili, but Fili had gotten her eyes. Her dark hair and long sideburns were elaborately braided and studded with beads that matched the flora and fauna on her dress. One braid curled down over her forehead and Tauriel was silently delighted to see on it one of the trinkets the princes had shown her that they had chosen for their mother.

              Behind the pair was Fili and Kili a few steps after. Fili was dressed in green to match Thorin, and his usually unruly mop of blond hair was neatly braided and beaded, as were his beard and mustache which, she noted, were both longer.

              At long last, her eyes fell on Kili. He had on a rather somber blue tunic, and his hair was clipped back with two long, bead tipped side braids framing his face. His beard was only a little thicker, if she squinted, but after being separated for so long, to her, he looked absolutely _perfect_.

              The group stopped before Thranduil, who rose with his usual cat-like grace and glided down the dais to greet Dís.

            “It’s has been a long time since I saw you last, but you have not changed, Princess.” Dís smiled slightly. She had not yet reached her majority the last time King Thranduil had seen her.

            He kissed her hand, lingering a beat _too_ long for propriety, and Fili, Kili, Tauriel, and Legolas all has the same thought at the same instant — had Thranduil thought to wed the dwarf princess at one time to gain access to Thror’s gold?!

            Legolas felt ill, but the others exchanged a quick, amused glance, as the Elf-king gestured for his son without looking away from Dís or releasing her hand. Legolas moved to his father’s side.

            “You, of course, remember my son, Prince Legolas.”

            Lady Dís nodded. “I understand you are becoming quite the Warrior Prince.”

             He bowed, and as court manners dictated, offered her his arm, to lead her into the Audience Hall where the actual meeting would take place. Thranduil and Thorin barely glanced at each other as they fell into angry lock step behind Legolas and Lady Dís, and Fili and Kili nearly lost it as they followed the group.

            Tauriel waited until they had all passed her before joining the odd procession. Once all the royals were in the room and seated, she secured the door and stood at parade rest before it.

            No-one could come or go without passing her first.

 

***

            Dís took her seat in the Audience Hall, and glanced at the guard by the door. So that was Kili’s wife. Ori’s sketch hadn’t done the she-elf justice. Her long hair was indeed an enviable shade of red. Like her people, she was tall, but as far as Dís could see, she was missing the glidi-ness her people usually moved with. This elf was firmly down to earth, for all Kili’s protestations to the contrary.

            Once everyone was seated, Dís pointed to her sons. “Lord Thranduil, when last we met, I was—not yet old enough to wed. My eldest child, Prince Fili. My husband passed away before our youngest, Prince Kili was born.”

            Both bowed slightly, but Thranduil was focused totally on Dís. “It is good to see the Lady of Erebor return,” he cooed in that low voice that made most of the females at Court swoon, but just made Tauriel’s skin crawl.

             Lady Dís offered him a placid smile. “It is good to be home.”

             Thorin must have been told that this was to be Adult Conversation, so he sat back with studied indolence, watching the Elf-king flirting shamelessly with his sister.

              Tauriel wasn’t really listening. She was enjoying being in the same room with her husband even if they could not interact. Her gaze kept lingering on him, silently willing him to look at her. He didn’t raise his head, and she was disappointed and pleased at once. If he did catch her eye, Tauriel knew she would not be able to control her reaction and would likely end up doing something foolish.

             “My Lord Thranduil,” Lady Dís was saying. “With peace and some measure of goodwill restored between our people, I have a thought to further strengthening our alliance.”

             Both kings’ eyes darted around the table to the three princes. Legolas barely stopped himself from wrinkling his nose, but Fili and Kili flashed the elf prince a lecherous grin and an eyebrow wiggle. Legolas looked away, and Tauriel bit the inside of her cheek to keep from laughing at their antics.

             “That . . . might . . . be . . . difficult.” Thranduil pronounced as the silence went on.

             “Indeed,” Lady Dís agreed. “But not impossible.” Legolas turned green, and Fili and Kili were suddenly very interested in their laps. The Elf-king’s eyebrow rose.

              “Elaborate.”

              “I am given to understand that there is a female under your protection. Her rank is low, I grant you, but if you were willing to adopt her as your daughter, this Princess of the Greenwood could be welcomed to Erebor.”

              “Adopted?” Thranduil glanced at Tauriel.

              “Not, of course, to be Queen, but her sons after her may yet be Kings.” Lady Dís’ voice was calm and slightly bored. She could have just as easily been discussing the weather.

              Thranduil looked at Fili. “So not the wife of the Heir, then?”

               “She would be adopted,” Dís pointed out blandly. “My youngest, however does not suit the tastes of Dwarf women. While the ladies have the right of choice, I refuse to have an idle son. She could do for him.”

                Tauriel felt as if they were discussing a stout pair of boots, or the gait of a good road horse. Legolas gaped at his father.

                 Thranduil’s gaze shifted to Kili. His sparse beard and unruly hair made him looked decidedly unkempt, but there was mischief lurking behind the prince’s current boredom. He had seen the dwarf princes leering at Legolas earlier, making a subtle joke at his son’s—and by extension, their own—expense.

                “I also hear the lady is a competent archer. Prince Kili often amuses his hours with that. It is not much, I grant, but many marriages have been started on less.” Lady Dís kept her eyes on the Elf-king, who finally sat back and crossed his legs.

                “An adopted archer princess for a second prince?” He mused.

                 Dís gave a signal and a member of the escort that had accompanied them stepped forward. Thorin went stiff for a moment, then relaxed again. Clearly, Lady Dís and her brother had had a _long_ conversation prior to this visit. The dwarf servant put a chest on the table near Dís. Tauriel came forward and took it down to her king, presenting it with a one knee bow.

                  Thranduil reached over and lazily lifted the lid. He was greeted by the dazzling sight of mithril, diamonds, and delicately worked platinum jewels. He shut the lid, and Tauriel stepped back, waiting for his next instruction.

 

   *** 


	8. Chapter 8

            Kili was having a devil of a time with this entire meeting. After their long separation, not being able to touch or speak to his wife was a torment. Kili knew Tauriel was trying to catch his eyes, but he refused to look too closely at her, though he was certain she must be suffering. He missed being with her, but if what she said about elves being Linked with their Soul Mates, he didn’t even want to try and imagine what she must be going through. Being forced to see in her such a servile role, when he knew her place was at his side was infuriating, so for his part, Kili kept his eyes on the table or on the Elf-king.

            At the moment, Thranduil appeared to be considering Dís’ proposal. The princess gave him a few seconds as his gaze drifted back to the chest, and half smiled.

            “Of course, there would be another when the Princess arrives at Erebor, and a final at the wedding. No doubt,” she paused, choosing her words with care. “No doubt, the girl had no dowry. However, with scarcity of women among my people, it is the husband who pays the Bride Price for such rare, _precious_ token.”

            Thranduil turned his eyes back to Dís. “And what happens to this Elf princess of Erebor when her husband is no more?”

            Lady Dís shrugged. “I know not.” She glanced at Tauriel. “You. What is the fate of she-elves who find themselves widowed?”

            Tauriel bowed to Dís, and Fili dug his fingernails into Kili’s leg to keep his brother from protesting their mother’s address to the girl.

            “That rarely happens, my lady. Some die and others go on living.”

            Dís nodded to Thranduil. “There you are. She’ll die or you can have her back, a bit older and a bit wiser. Maybe she could become an ambassador or something,” she added flippantly, and Thranduil smirked.

              He waved Tauriel away, so she took the chest to place it in an alcove to be transported to the treasury. He sat forward and studied Dís for a long time, and Thorin, who had be silent for the whole meeting, began glaring. Fili was sure if Thorin had his swords on him, the Elf-king would be spewing geysers of blood all over the room right then.

             Finally, Thranduil sat back. “Tauriel.” She returned to the king’s side.

             “Sire?”

             “That dwarf. You will be his wife.”

              Tauriel’s eyes widened and her stomach jumped. Legolas was frowning at her and glaring at his father, so she began protesting. Kili shot to his feet with an angry exclamation, joining his protests with hers.

              “He’s so short! And hairy!”

               “She’s 9 feet tall! What am I supposed to do, carry around a ladder to the end of my days?!”

                Thranduil smirked, so Tauriel knew her reaction was the correct one. She paused and looked at Kili.

                “Please, Sire—”

                “Mother, why are you—”

                 Abruptly, Thranduil stood up, silencing them both. He fixed his cold blue eyes on Tauriel.

                “The adoption will take place one month from today. When it is concluded, you will go to Erebor.” He turned to Dís, who nodded.

                “We can have the wedding in the fall, just before Durin’s Day,” she said. Kili flopped back down into his chair, arms crossed, trying to look as if he were pouting. Dís ignored him. “That gives me time to plan and,” she flicked her gaze over Tauriel. “Set her clothes to rights.”

                 Thranduil dismissed Tauriel and she was forced to leave. Legolas watched her march out of the room, then turned back to see what Kili’s reaction was. The younger prince still appeared to be pouting.

 _‘Maybe she’s had time to consider what I said,’_ he mused. _‘So of course, now she’s over this infatuation,_ Father _has taken leave of his senses.’_

                 After the dwarves finally departed, Legolas went looking for Tauriel, but was informed that “The Princess had already gone out.”

                 He returned to his father. Thranduil was in his room, preparing for dinner.

                “Father! I cannot believe you are _really_ going to allow this!”

                  “Why not? It is to everyone’s advantage, especially my own.” The king paused and slowly turned to face his child. “I already told you that you _cannot_ marry Tauriel! Now she is to be your sister, so it is _beyond_ out of the question.”

                  Legolas huffed. “I have _never_ wanted to marry her, Father. She is my friend, and has been my sister in my heart all along. I do not wish to see her hurt, which she will be if you send her to live with those _filthy_ dwarves!”

                   “And yet, to Erebor she will go. Do not question me again, Legolas. I will not stand for it.” Thranduil swept from the room and Legolas went to grab his weapons and go after Tauriel.

 

  *** 


	9. Chapter 9

            Fili and Kili managed to remain silent the entire way home. It wasn’t too difficult. Thorin was too irritated with Dís to speak to her, and Dís was mentally planning Tauriel’s new wardrobe. When they arrived at Erebor, they fled to their room and Kili began bouncing around the room, whooping happily the second the door shut.

            “It’s finally official, Brother! Tauriel is going to be mine at last! And _you_ said mother couldn’t get Thranduil to bend. She didn’t bend him, she _broke_ him!”

            Fili sat on his bed and shook his head. “Not so loudly, Little Brother. Thorin will hear you.”

            “I don’t care if they can hear me in Mordor!”

            “Kili!”

             Kili laughed and collapsed onto the floor, panting. “I miss her, Fili. I may not be able to feel her the way she said elves do, but not having her here, by my side, where I can always see her is excruciating!”  He sat up. “Mother was brilliant today!”

            Fili frowned. “Did you not think Thranduil was bit . . . _too_ familiar with Mother?”

            Kili smirked. “Yeah, he was. But Mother’s lovely.”

            “To a Dwarf, yes. Elf-men aren’t known for their love of bearded females.”

            “Pff. You can barely see it!” Kili hopped up onto his bed. “I want our rooms on the southern side of the palace, so she can have a window that overlooks Lake Town, and Mirkwood. And so she can see the stars at night.”

            Fili threw his pillow at his brother. “What am I going to do with you?”

 

***  

           

            Legolas finally caught up with Tauriel deep in the forest. She was climbing a tree.

            “What are you doing?”

          “Scouting,” she answered shortly. “Your father pulled us from the patrol for that stupid meeting, remember?”

            “We were coming back anyway, Tauriel.” He watched her rise higher in the branches, ignoring his words. After a moment, Legolas swung his bow over his back and climbed up after her. “Tauriel, talk to me. What’s wrong?”

            “Nothing’s wrong. I just . . . need to clear my head.”

            “How long has it been since you last slept?”

            _‘Ten months, three days, four hours and forty-five minutes,’_ she thought. “A while.”

            He watched her scan her eyes over the tops of the trees, searching for any movement.

            “Tauriel. Are you _truly_ upset that Father has agreed to this marriage? You seemed to  . . . _like_ . . .  that dwarf before they retook Erebor.”

            Tauriel knew she had to be very careful of how she phrased her response, or Legolas might go back to his father and try to talk Thranduil out of the agreement, which was the _last_ thing she wanted.

            “I . . . resent being sold, _mellon_. And being talked about as if I weren’t there.”

            “That’s not an answer.”

            “Until I have time to think, and maybe get some rest, it’s the only answer I can give, Legolas. My mind is tired.”

            He nodded. This wasn’t the first time she had told him that, but he was no longer convinced she had gotten over her odd infatuation with the dwarf prince. He sighed.

            “Very well.” She turned to look over the lake side of the forest and he frowned. “Why are you still wearing those beads?”

            “They matched my dress. Legolas, what are you saying? Be plain, I’m too tired to dissemble.”

            He turned away. “Never mind. I’ll do your patrol. Go home and get some sleep. Oh, and Tauriel?”

            She was already climbing down. “What?”

            “Word had spread among the staff.  They’re calling you ‘Princess’ already.”

            Tauriel groaned in genuine annoyance and dropped to the ground. “Thanks for the warning.”

 

***

 

            A few days later, a gift arrived for Tauriel from Erebor. Thranduil summoned her from a practice drill she was running with her soldiers when the messenger arrived. She came in, sweaty and still in her practice clothes.

            “Sire?”

            He waved at the dwarf messenger who bowed to her and help up a small box.

 “Lady Tauriel, my Lord, Prince Kili, has sent you this token as a sign of his affection for you on your engagement.”

            Tauriel had to give the messenger credit for not choking on the words. She desperately wanted to take the box and flee to her room to open it in private, but that wasn’t an option. She sighed in what she hoped was a long suffering manner and plucked it out of his hands.

            “Sire,” she faced the king. “Do I—”

            “Yes! Open it.”

            She slowly turned the box over, studying the geometric designs etched on the outside, then pulled back the hinged lid. The inside was lined with white silk, but her eyes were drawn to a slim silver ring, decorated with a geometric design of two laced squares. She glanced at Thranduil again, and at his terse nod, removed it from the box and slipped it onto her finger. It fit perfectly.

            _‘Oh, Kili, it’s beautiful!’_ she thought. She turned back to the messenger.

“Tell the prince it is lovely.” She was afraid to say more, sure her voice would break and betray her. The dwarf bowed to her and Thranduil and fled. Tauriel waited until the door closed.

            “I cannot wear this. It will get caught on things. I’m a soldier first—”

            “Not. Any. More. I do not want to hear anymore protests out of you. Like it or not, you will do as you are told.” He turned away, and Tauriel returned to the practice yard, her heart pounding so loudly she was sure everyone she passed could hear it.

            _‘Killi, just a few more weeks, and everything will alright.’_

            Legolas was waiting for her as she emerged into the sun. “What did my father want?” She held up her hand.

            “Erebor sent me a token.” She pushed past him to rejoin her men in the drill.

 

***

 

            A week before the adoption ceremony was to take place, a dressmaker presented Tauriel with a silver and white dress she was to wear for the occasion. It was pretty and simple, but Tauriel went to Thranduil again to protest further.

           “Why are you defying me on this, Tauriel? Did you not say you were nothing but a lowly Silvan elf? And yet, here I have favored you above all the Ladies in my Court, and all I hear from you are complaints!”

            “But I don’t understand why you are doing this! You hate Thorin—”

            “Yes.” Thranduil smiled unpleasantly. “You are right, that has not changed. But the idea of having an elf in his Court . . . amuses me.”

            He turned away, dismissing her, and Tauriel returned to her room to find an army of maids packing her things.

            “What is going on?”

            “The King has ordered everything be readied for your departure, my Lady,” one of the maids answered with a curtsy.

“Stop. I don’t own that much stuff, I can do it myself. Please leave.” They went and she lay down. “One more week, my love. One week.”

 

 *** 


	10. Chapter 10

            The day before the adoption, all of Tauriel’s belongings were taken to Erebor by barge. It returned the following morning with the second third of her Bride Price, putting Thranduil in a very good mood.

            Tauriel was bathed and dressed with care, then escorted to the Audience Hall. She was honestly surprised to see that so many members of the Court had turned up for this relatively minor ritual.

            When it was time, Tauriel stood before Thranduil, and they recited a short vow, she promising to be a loyal, loving, and virtuous daughter, and he to be a good father—loving, protective, and ready to help in her times of need. Then, they each added a drop of blood to a glass of wine, which they both drank from, and it was done. Frankly, Tauriel found the whole thing silly and rather unnecessary.  She was about the walk away, when Thranduil called her back.

            “Kneel.” She hesitated, then knelt as gracefully as she could in the long dress. Thranduil turned to a small table near him and tossed aside the cover over it, reveling a fine gold tiara worked to look as if it were made of twining vines and oak branches.

            He took up the crown, and placed it gently over Tauriel’s hair. The entire Court bowed to her as he helped her to her feet. Legolas moved to her other side, and Thranduil announced:

            “My daughter, Princess Tauriel.”

            She turned to the king and curtsied. “ _Ada_. She then turned to Legolas. “ _Hanar_.”

            Legolas pulled her to him, and embraced her as he had often done in the past.

             Afterwards, Tauriel had to endure a reception, which went on far too long for her liking before Thranduil pulled her into the empty Throne room.

            “It is time for you to depart,” he told her. “You _will_ go to Erebor and you _will_ marry that ugly, hairy, little prince, you hear me? You will accept him into your bed, and you will bear his children.”

            Tauriel shivered. The coldness of his voice made the whole thing sound sordid and dirty. He noticed the shiver and presuming she was about to protest again, he loomed over her.

            “No buts. You. Will. Go. I expect you see you much changed by your wedding day.”

            “Not pregnant, I hope,” she muttered, suddenly irritated beyond all bearing with him.

            “No,” Thranduil crossed over to his throne and sat. “But perhaps by the Winter Solstice, you will have some progress to report.”

            Tauriel sighed and departed. She had an escort to the border, where she was met by the Master of Lake Town’s private yacht, which took her to Dale. At Dale, she was given a carriage, which took her to Erebor.

 _‘Being a Fine Lady seems to require a lot of stopping and starting and taking the long way around,’_ she though as she finally arrived. She was greeted politely at the gates by Balin, who led her into the Throne room, where Thorin, Lady Dís, Fili, and Kili were waiting.

Thorin glanced her over as she made her bows, then marched out without a word, but Lady Dís and Fili were more welcoming. Kili hung back, until Dís called him over.

            “Kili, show Lady Tauriel to her room.” He offered her his arm and they left the room without speaking. Dís looked at Fili.

            “Isn’t he glad to see her?” She was rather shocked by his tepid response to seeing Tauriel again after being apart for so long.

            Fili grinned. “I’m sure he is. We’ll be lucky if we see them again before supper. Tomorrow.”

            Kili led Tauriel through the palace to the family wing and down another short hallway to her rooms. Outside her door, he paused.

            “Is there anything I might not be familiar with, my lord?” she asked. Kili flushed.

            “Uh . . . yeah. I’ll . . . just—” he fumbled the door open and she followed him inside.

            The room was large and warm, and dominated by a huge four poster bed. The other furnishing rather escaped her notice however, as the latch on the door clicked into place behind her. Tauriel ripped the tiara off her head and fell into Kili’s arms.

            “How I have missed you!” She told him between kisses. “I’m sorry I said you were short. I didn’t mean it.”

            “I know. It’s okay,” he assured her, tugging at the laces on her dress so he could get it off. Tauriel was shocked that her hands were shaking as badly as they were, but she finally managed to get his shirt out of his pants. She pulled away to yank it over his head and tossed it aside.

            Somewhere in their fumbling, her dress finally slid off her shoulders and Tauriel stood and went to the bed. He followed eagerly and it was many hours before Kili got around to showing her how to open the latches on the windows.

 

  *** 


	11. Chapter 11

             Tauriel had been at Erebor for nearly a week before she was called to a private audience with Lady Dís. She assumed the acting queen wanted to get a closer look at her and would then dismiss her. Out of habit, when she arrived, Tauriel gave the dwarf princess a humble, one knee bow. Dís shook her head and bade Tauriel to sit beside her.

            “Now, then,” Dís said after taking a moment to look Tauriel over. “Let us be honest. _I_ know what’s going on between you and Kili. The boys told me all of it. I then went to my brother and told _him_ that I felt it would be in the best interests of both kingdoms if you two were wed, since he was already familiar with you.”

            Tauriel frowned. “But . . . Thorin saw us  . . . together after the battle—”

            “True. But the two of you have been separated for nearly a year. I’m sure he just assumed the feeling had changed on both sides on the mean time. But he didn’t ask, and I didn’t volunteer.”

            Tauriel laughed, she couldn’t help herself.

            “That said,” Lady Dís went on. “That is _all_ my brother knows. So try not to be _too_ obvious when you are with Kili that you are pleased to be here. At least . . . not at first.”

            Tauriel frowned. “May I be happy on my wedding day at least?” Lady Dís nodded.

            “Two months is more than enough time to decide if you can be happy with your spouse or not. Besides, Dwarrow don’t mind about an engaged couple being intimate before the wedding.”

            Tauriel blushed and Lady Dís smiled and pulled a stack of papers closer.

            “Now, you cannot continue going about in your uniform. You are no longer the Captain of the Guard. You are now Lady Tauriel, Princess of the Woodland Realm, intended of Prince Kili of Erebor. Everyone knows that, but you must look the part. I know you and Kili will want to be able to run off into the blue to go hunting at a moment’s notice, so I want to keep your style similar, just make it less . . . elf-ish.”

            Tauriel stared at Dís, not really understanding her for a moment. “I . . . what?”

            “Your clothes.” The dwarf princess said. “We need to get your clothes in order.”

            “Right.”

Dís held some of the papers in her hand out to Tauriel.

            “I stared with these.”

            Tauriel nodded and as she thumbed through the stack, she noticed a geometric design that was similar to the one on her ring.

            “What’s this?” she asked, pointing to the pattern.

            “That is Kili’s Crest. It indicates that he is the Second Heir. It will appear somewhere on all of your clothes.”

            Tauriel laughed. “I don’t think there will be any confusion over whose wife I am, Lady Dís. Or subsequent battles to resolve the issue, either.”

            Dís laughed too. “No, I suppose not. We can leave them off if you prefer.”

            Tauriel shook her head and they continued through the drawings.

            “Ah! Here we are.” Dís stopped at a dress Tauriel was about to pass. “This is your wedding frock.”

            Tauriel stared at it in dismay. The skirt was wide, and the bodice had narrow three –quarter sleeves, edged with a long fall of lace and a harsh, square neckline. She sighed.

            “It’s . . .”

            Lady Dís smiled kindly and slid the paper out of her hand. “Not to your taste.”

            “I’m sorry. I . . . will look . . . lovely in it . . . I’m . . . sure.”

            Dís shook her head. “You’ll look stout. I am rather forgetting to factor in your height. Tell you what — you think about it, and bring me your ideas.”

            Tauriel nodded and the two ladies talked for several hours on other things. Tauriel had a dozen questions about life in Erebor, and Dís was happy to answer them.

 

***

            _‘This really is heavenly,’_ Tauriel thought that night as she sat on their bed while Kili combed her hair out.

            “ _Melamin_ , my love?”

            “Hmm?” Kili was totally focused on his task.

            “I spoke with Lady Dís today. I rather like your mother. She was quite pleasant.”

            Kili smiled. “Good. I’m glad.”

            “She had a question for me, and the more I think about it, the more curious I get.” Tauriel pulled away from Kili’s gentle fingers and turned to face him. “While we were apart, I—couldn’t . . . I felt like my soul was being pulled apart. Please tell me you were not feeling that way.”

            Kili shook his head. “I missed you,” he told her. “I wasn’t sleeping well, but I had nothing like what you’re describing.” He scooted forward and took her face in his hands.

            “Tauriel, if this happens to you every time we are separated, your life is going to be a misery.”

            “I don’t think so.” She smiled.  “Honestly, I’m sure it was just the stress of not knowing if I was ever going to be able to see you again. After the wedding, all that will be gone. We will be united by all the rules of all the People of this earth. You’ll have to go away sometimes, I realize that, but I will also know that I _will_ be reunited with you. That we don’t have to hide anymore—”

            Kili silenced her with a kiss. “I love you, Tauriel. If Thorin wishes to send me anywhere, I will insist that you must come with me.”

            Tauriel laughed. “But what if we have a family, my love? We cannot leave them for Lady Dís to look after. Or Fili!”

            Kili laughed. “But we don’t know if we can have a baby, so let’s just worry about it when it happens.”

            “Well, if we maintain our present course of action, we may find out sooner rather than later!” She teased.

            Kili tried to frown and look stern, but ended up laughing again. “Is that a complaint I hear, She-Elf?”

            “No indeed, Master Dwarf. It is not.”

            “Good.” He put aside the comb, and pulled her down for a kiss. “Because I rather enjoy our ‘present course of action’.”

 

  *** 


	12. Chapter 12

Early October:

 

            Bard, King of Dale, and his children — Sigrid, Bain, and Tilda — Legolas, and King Thranduil all came to Erebor for this rather unusual wedding. For weeks, Tauriel had been practicing her vows, and was still not sure she would make it through the ceremony without flubbing them.

            As part of the rite, she and Kili had to exchange tokens they had made themselves, so she also spent a good deal of time with the jewelers, working on a design that she hoped wasn’t too elfish looking. She and Lady Dís redesigned her wedding dress to better suit Tauriel’s height. It still looked a bit Dwarfish, but the silhouette had a more lithe, elf-like line. Both ladies were pleased with it, and Dís instructed her dressmakers that all of Tauriel’s clothes were to follow this model.

            As their guests arrived, Kili waited with his brother, anxiously pacing the hall. Fili was relaxed, and kept trying to still his brother, but to no avail. Only the fact that it had taken them over an hour to get Kili’s hair to cooperate and stay braided kept him from running his fingers through it. Finally, Fili took firm hold of his brother’s arm.

           “Kili! People are watching! Clam down! It’s not as if she won’t be coming.”

            Kili stared at his brother for a moment, then nodded. “Right. True. I’m totally calm.” Fili grinned, and uncurled Kili’s fingers from the hilt of his dress sword.

           “Sure you are.”

            Watching Kili from his place on the dais at the head of the room — Bard seated on his left, and Thranduil to his right —Thorin wondered if his nephew was ill. What dwarf in his right mind could possible love an elf? It could be nothing else; if he didn’t love her, the boy wouldn’t be so anxious now. He sighed. In all the weeks Tauriel had been living in Erebor, Thorin had refused to speak with her. He saw her at dinner — there was no avoiding that, but Fili, Dís, and Kili did all the talking. She was unfailingly polite to him when she passed him in the halls, but he ignored her. Just knowing she was in the mountain at _all_ made him feel rather uncomfortable in his own home.

           He glanced over the assembled guests. It had taken much persuasion on Lady Dís’ part, and diplomatic shuffling on Balin’s for the Seven Families to agree to send representatives for the occasion. Thorin couldn’t help but notice that they had all sent along at least one of their daughters as well.

          Fili had noticed as well, and before the princesses were escorted out to join Tauriel’s procession, he had been not so subtly checking them out. Kili would have teased him about it, but he was too wrapped up in his own nervousness to notice.

          Finally, the trumpets sounded, announcing the arrival of the bride, and Kili nearly tripped over his own feet in his hurry to stand beside his brother.

           The main door opened and Lady Dís, Princesses Sigrid and Princess Tilda— the eldest acting as hostess and queen in place of their mother, the Seven dwarf princesses, and finally Tauriel entered the room. Kili was clearly delighted with the sight of his bride, and Fili was wondering if he’d have to hold onto his brother’s tunic to keep him from sprinting down the room to her side, but Kili held himself in check until Tauriel arrived at his side. Fili then stepped back, as did the ladies accompanying Tauriel, leaving the couple standing together before the kings.

          The ceremony was fairly simple. They faced each other and vowed their lifelong loyalty to one another, then exchanged their tokens—they had both chosen rings—then they knelt and restated their loyalty pledges to their kings. Tauriel elected to remain kneeling when they were finished so Kili could kiss her without embarrassing himself, then they led their guests to the dining hall.

         There, an elaborate feast had been set up and in a very short time, all pretense at civility on the part of the dwarves disappeared. The human guests didn’t mind, but Thranduil and Legolas were quite put out. For his part, Kili was too nervous to eat or drink, so he mostly just stared at his wife and stole kisses. Someone suggested music, and after much teasing and urging from their guests, the couple was allowed one sedate dance. They took the floor. He bowed, she offered a low curtsy and they managed to get through this rather silly ritual without mishap. When they were finished, everyone clapped, and then music changed.

          The ensuing free for all was ruckus and boisterous and Tauriel was actually starting to enjoy their noise when Thranduil rose and indicated he wished to speak with her. She followed her step-father out of the room. When the door to the dining hall closed, the silence was almost deafening. She bowed to the Elf-king.

          “Father.”

          “You seem to be . . . enjoying your stay so far.”

          “Prince Kili and his family are not unkind. I can expect no more. And I must find joy in _some_ things. I will be here a long time.”

           “Hmm.” He circled her slowly. “Has he touched you yet?”

            Tauriel flushed. “ _Ada_! That is _not_ an appropriate—”

            “Answer me!”

             She looked away. “Yes.”

            “And?”  
            “I am not with child, if that’s what you are wondering.”

             “Hmm. Well, there is still time. Remember your duty to your people. Do not refuse him.”

 _‘Refuse_ him _?’_ She thought. _‘I do not foresee_ that _ever happening!’_   “ _Uma_ , _Ada_.”

              Thranduil stopped before her and raised Tauriel’s chin so their eyes met.  “When this is over, will you be returning to the Woods?”

               “I—” His grip tightened. “No, I will not.”

                “I see.” He released her. “It is curious the Valar would allow this.” Tauriel didn’t respond. The Elf-king circled her again. “You will return for the festivals,” he told her. “I suppose you must bring _him_ with you, but teach him _some_ manners before you do.”

                “Yes, Father.”

                He stopped walking and faced her again. “Lady Dís has kept her word. You are well and truly the Daughter of the Dwarves now. You must learn to love the Dark.”

                She half smiled. “The Prince prefers I walk in starlight.”

                One thick, dark brow rose. “A curious kind of dwarf.”

                 “He is indeed,” she agreed fondly.

                 The door behind Tauriel opened and Kili emerged, shutting it behind him.

                  “There you are! I was afraid you had run away.” He moved to her side and laced their fingers. “Come back in. Fili’s drunk already and flirting with Princess Sigrid. Bard and Thorin are about to kill him!”

                  She smiled down at him. “Yes. This I must see.” She bowed to Thranduil and followed Kili back to the party. When the door shut behind them, Legolas stepped in the room.

                 “I heard what she said. How can she be Linked to a dwarf! And why did you agree to this foolish match when you plan to keep baiting the dwarf king anyway?”

                  Thranduil turned to look at his son. “Legolas. She has been with him _long_ before Lady Dís came to request this alliance. I sensed something was off with her, and during her adoption, I was able to confirm it.”

                 Legolas looked green. “Then why did they fuss and carry on against it?”

                 Thranduil gave a slight shrug. “Who knows? The fact they are Linked at all is strange. The Valar decide before we are born if we have a soul mate or not, but this pairing—”

                 “Is an abomination! I refuse to believe the Valar would _do_ something like that!”  Legolas raged.

                  Thranduil shrugged again. “Perhaps the gods have a sense of humor.”

 

  *** 

 


	13. Chapter 13

          Life under the mountain returned to normal. Kili and Tauriel spent the remaining warm days roaming the wilds around Erebor. They would often take their bows and set out very early in the morning and not return until well after dark. Fili elected to remain behind, and spent most of his days shadowing Thorin or helping Lady Dís entertain the seven princesses. While he did find them all pretty, for the most part, they were silly and a little spoiled, and to everyone’s dismay, he didn’t seem inclined towards any of them.

               The Harvest Festival, Durin’s Day, and the creeping cold finally drove the newlyweds back to the mountain. Since Thranduil never issued invitations, only commands, Lady Dís and Fili agreed to accompany Tauriel and Kili to Mirkwood for the Harvest Festival. When they arrived, Legolas was distant but polite to the dwarves, but Thranduil was still rather _more_ polite to Lady Dís than strictly necessary. Fili, unsettled by the king’s behavior, stuck to his mother like a burr, while Tauriel took Kili on a tour of her former home.

            The elves they encountered as they walked were polite to Tauriel, since she was royalty now, but they ignored Kili entirely. They finally arrived in the Banquet Hall just as the rest of the guests were sitting down to table.

            Fili watched the elves with curiosity. This event was supposed to be a festival, but as far as he could tell, it was just as sedate as any and every other elf event he had ever heard about. He had promised Lady Dís and Tauriel he would behave, so Fili kept his drinking to a minimum. His only amusement, therefore, was watching Thranduil flirting with his mother and Legolas making faces. Kili was oblivious to everything but his wife. At the moment, she was laughing at something he said, and he was kissing her hand.

            Fili shook his head. Kili’s world had narrowed for the time being, but Fili supposed the fact that they had no opportunity to court properly before their marriage was contributing to their behavior now. His brother was constantly presenting Tauriel with some new trinket or decoration, and at the moment, she had so much mithril braided into her hair it looked as if she was crowned with stars every time the candlelight touched her head. Fili noted that the other ladies at the table were studying his sister’s hair carefully. She may not live in their Court anymore, but a princess always set the fashion trends.

                After an eternity, dinner was over. Everyone moved into the Ball Room. This room Fili found impressive. The room was large and the walls were entwined tree branches, coxed to grow into an open-domed structure. Between the branch walls hung tapestries depicting scenes from the creation of the world. Fili knew it was cold outside, but even with the open roof above them and the virtual lack of walls, the room was warm and comfortable.

                 After all his guests had filed in and were standing patiently along the edges of the room, Thranduil rose from the elevated dais at the head of the room.

                “My daughter, Princess Tauriel, was quiet recently wed to Prince Kili of Erebor.” There was polite applause. He turned to face the pair, who were seated to his left.

                “Prince Kili, Princess Tauriel. You will do us the honor of opening the dancing.”

                  Fili’s eyebrow rose, but to his surprise, the pair stood, held hands, and moved calmly to the center of the room. The gathered elves seemed to be holding their breath. Unlike dwarf free-for-all dances, elves danced one couple on the floor at a time, dragging out an evening party interminably. Each couple was their own event and the rest of the guests watching silently.

                    From no-where that Fili could see, a slow, ethereal piece of music began to play. They turned, each facing opposite walls, their palms together for a beat, then they began tracing the sedated figures of the dance.

                   Lady Dís was delighted and Fili was shocked. It seemed the pair had been doing more than hunting on their trips away from Erebor. Thranduil frowned slightly as the couple danced, having rather hoped to put them on the spot. The music faded, and they ended with a bow and curtsey, before Kili proudly led his wife from the floor.

                  “Well played,” Thranduil told Tauriel as she resumed her seat. “The dwarf is surprising light on his feet.”

                    “An archer’s success depends on his silence,” she countered. The pair then proceeded to totally ignore Thranduil for nearly five minutes, talking quietly, their heads together. Finally, Kili nodded, kissed her hand, and set off to the drinks table. Fili followed.

                   “What was _that_?” Fili asked. Kili flashed him a grin.

                   “Dancing, Brother. Did we look alright?”

                   Fili nodded. “It looked fine, but how long did it take you to master that?”

                   Kili shook his head, still half grinning. “Probably longer than is should have. Our dance lessons . . .” Fili held up a hand, silencing him.

                   “I understand.” Kili laughed, and they got drinks for their ladies, and returned to where they were seated. After giving Tauriel her glass, Kili went to his mother.

                  “Would you care to dance, Mother?”

                  Lady Dís gave him a gentle smile. “Oh. No, dear. But you and Tauriel looked very well together.”

                  He returned to his wife, and Thranduil rose and descended the dais to speak with Lady Dís. Kili and Legolas frowned. Fili, seated beside his mother, was pretending not to listen, but his face grew graver the longer the king talked.

                   Kili glanced up at his wife. “Darling, do you find it . . . _odd_ how much time Thranduil spends—”

                   “Flirting with your mother? Yes, I do. It was amusing at first; I just assumed he was doing it to irritate Thorin, but now— Has she ever expressed an . . . _interest_ . . . in—”

                 “ _No_!” Kili hissed. “And no offence to your elf-men, but I think they look a bit _too much_ like elf-maids for my mother’s taste.”

                Tauriel laughed. “Yes, I suppose they do. But look! He’s convinced her to dance with him!” The Elf-king was indeed leading the Dwarf princess to the center of the room.

               Fili had already had more shocks than he was sure he was ready to deal with after his mother _agreed_ to the dance, and then he added a few more to his growing list as she effortlessly sketched the figures of an even more complex looking dance than Kili and Tauriel’s with the Elf-king.  They looked as if they had been dancing together for an Age. When the music finally faded, Thranduil escorted the acting queen back to her seat and the guests offered light applause, murmuring to each other. Normally, Thranduil _never_ bothered dancing at these events. It had been _decades_ in fact! Was their ill-tempered monarch finally feeling ready to rejoin the rest of the world? And was a Dwarf princess going to be partly responsible for this remarkable change?

                For a while, the guests mingled, talking over this rather unusual turn of events, but Dís ignored all of the speculation, and only talked to her family for the rest of the evening. Thranduil sat stone faced, ignoring Legolas’ questioning stares and Fili’s accusatory glares.

               For all her animation in the ballroom, on the way home, Dís was silent. Fili was still far too shocked to speak to anyone, so Kili and Tauriel held hands in the dark, and spoke quietly to each other. When they got home, the couple hurried inside and everyone who caught a glimpse of them was sure it would be another full day or more before they would be seen or heard from again.

              Fili escorted his mother to her room. At the door, she paused.

             “Don’t mention this to Thorin,” she told him softly, before disappearing into her apartment without waiting for a reply.  Fili stared at her door for a long time, before going to his own rooms. He desperately wanted to talk to Kili, but opted instead to smoke his pipe and watch the sun rise before he retired.

 

***

 

            Legolas was so mortified he didn’t even want to stay in the palace. When the ball was over, he retreated to his room, changed into his hunting clothes and went out, though it was far too late in the year to be hunting for anything.  Away from the palace, he began to pace, trying desperately to think.

           “The dwarves showed up out of no-where a year ago,” he muttered. “Father put them in lock-up, they escape. And he _allowed_ it! Tauriel falls in love with one of them, and pines away for nearly a year before Father allows her to  . . . marry it. _Publicly_.”

                He paused and closed his eyes. All his life, Thranduil had spoken scathingly of Dwarves and all the other species in Middle Earth. Humans he could tolerate and Halfling were nothing, as they rarely left the Shire, but Dwarves were the bane of his entire existence; slightly behind orcs.

              “And now  . . .” Legolas didn’t even want to _think_ it, much less say it. His father was acting as if he were _interested_ in the dwarf princess! Truly, this was beyond all toleration! The elf prince continued to move restlessly through the trees.

              But maybe he was reading too much into it. It could just be another attempt to irritate Thorin Oakenshield, and what better way to go about it than to make his precious little sister fall in love with an elf?  Legolas paused to consider this, and after a moment, dismissed the thought.

             His father was cruel, and not above playing with the emotions of others, but surely even he had his limits? Which brought him back to his original thought—his father might _actually_ be interested in the dwarf princess.

             “Ugh.”

              Legolas couldn’t stop the shudder of disgust that went through him, then he recalled the looks on the faces of the dwarf princes. They were suspicious of his father’s motives and just as, if not more disgusted than Legolas was. He considered how he would feel if a male he hardly knew and didn’t trust, had tried what Thranduil appeared to be doing to Lady Dís on his own mother. He frowned. The dwarf princes were showing remarkable self-restraint.

               Now he was annoyed to have anything in common with a dwarf. Clearly, walking wasn’t helping to clear his mind, so Legolas returned home. His father was waiting for him, lounging in a chair in his son’s room, glass of wine in hand.

              “There you are.” He glanced at Legolas’ bow.  “A bit late in the year to be out hunting.”

             “Father.” He bowed and moved to hang up his bow. “Can I help you?”

            “No.”  Thranduil rose and moved towards the door. “I was curious how you were feeling after our little family reunion this evening.”

           Legolas scoffed. “I will always be happy to see Tauriel, Father. I told you already, she has been my heart-sister for centuries.”

He faced the window but wasn’t really seeing anything outside. “The dwarves I could do without.”

            “And yet for the moment, they are our allies.”

            “Don’t remind me,” Legolas muttered.

            “Patience, Legolas. We will out-live them.” Thranduil departed on silent feet.

            “But will I out-live the shame of having such a father?” The prince muttered.

 

 *** 

 


	14. Chapter 14

              The celebrations for Durin’s Day were, to Tauriel’s surprise, quite solemn. She had assumed the New Year as well as the first anniversary of the reclaiming of Erebor would be cause for a loud revel.

            “On, no.” Kili told her as she helped him get his hair in order for the day. “Durin’s Day is the day when Durin was created in secret by Aulë. Because he was created first, he became chief among the seven Fathers and Mothers of the Dwarves.”

            “I see.” Tauriel considered this. “And who was his wife?”

            Kili laughed. “Durin was created alone. The other six Fathers were given wives.”

            “So . . . how can you be a descendant of Durin when he wasn’t married?”

            “I never said he _didn’t_ marry, Aulë just didn’t create a wife for him in the _beginning_.”

            “Oh, I see.” Tauriel slid a clip on to her husband’s hair and stepped back. “There. Handsome as usual.”

            Kili kissed her as they moved to leave the room. “You’re biased, my dear. But thank you.”

            In the hallway, they were met by Fili and Lady Dís. Dís was pleased to see Tauriel in one of her new Court gowns, and the two ladies spent several minutes admiring each other’s _toilette_ before Fili and Kili began threatening to leave them if they didn’t hurry.

            In the throne room, Thorin was already waiting. Fili, as the Heir took the seat on his uncle’s left and Kili was seated on his right. Lady Dís and Tauriel were seated together on Thorin’s right, below and a little behind Kili.

            The nobles who were still in attendance after Kili’s wedding, Bard and his family, and Legolas—sent in his father’s place—came to make their bows to Thorin and bring their good wishes for the New Year. After the audience, everyone gathered in the dining room for a feast. Stories were told and toasts were made to honor the dead, but Tauriel felt overall as if she were at an elf party, it was so quiet.

            All around them, noblemen and commoners alike sat in equal accord, so Tauriel was able to listen in on some of the masons as they discussed their work. Erebor was still an active construction zone, but unlike the rest of the world, being underground meant that the dwarves didn’t have to stop working because of the weather. She was shocked to hear them say they should be finished all the work by spring.

            Tauriel looked at Kili. “Can they really have the city rebuilt by then?”

            He nodded. “Indeed. We Dwarves can work pretty quickly when we need to.”

            She smiled. “I wish there was something I could do to help. I know I’m no craftsman, but . . . I feel as if I am freeloading.”

            Kili laughed, drawing looks from the guests seated near them, some amused and indulgent, others hostile.

            “No-one thinks that of you, my love. You are a princess. Your job is to look pretty, host diplomats and guest with my mother and eventually have babies.”

            “I understand that, Kili. But I’m used to _doing_ things. I wasn’t born a soldier, but it’s all I’ve done for so long, it _is_ my life.”

            Kili nodded. “Alright. I’ll ask Thorin if he would object to you training with the soldiers. Some of them might not agree, but they all saw you on the battlefield.”

            “And if he says no?” She asked. Kili looked thoughtful for a moment, then lecherous.

            “Then we will spend the winter working on our family, and in the spring, if we were not successful, then we will go outside to enjoy the warm weather, and try again.”

            Tauriel laughed, delighted at his silliness, and leaned over to kiss him. “I love you.”

            “I love you, my Princess.”

            Thorin, sitting a few places down from the couple suppressed an annoyed frown. Newlyweds were always a trial to be around, and watching Kili and his elf-wife was doubly so in his opinion. Dís noticed his look and shook her head at him.

            “Thorin, you can always get married, and have your own Heirs,” she told him. “Then I can take _my_ children and return to the Blue Mountains. And you can deal with the fallout from Thranduil over Tauriel by yourself.”

            Thorin frowned. “Don’t joke, Dís. I was merely considering the fact that newlyweds are, in general, quite annoying.”

            Dís smiled, thinking for a moment of her own husband. “Yes, I suppose they are.”

           

***

 

            “It’s not a bad idea, actually.”

            A week after Durin’s Day, the full Council met for the New Year, and Kili brought Tauriel along to propose his idea of her training with the soldiers. At the moment, Thorin was staring at Dwalin as if his old friend had wounded him to the heart.

            Tauriel sat with Lady Dís, slightly behind Thorin’s massive chair at the head of the Council table. She was demurely dressed in the most Dwarfish looking gown she owned and was trying her best not to look too eager.

            Most of the Council members in the room were instantly against the idea on principle and because the king’s dislike of elves in general and his niece-in-law in particular were known. The younger Council members — mostly from the Blue Mountains — Fili, Balin, and to Thorin’s shock—Dwalin, liked the idea. Balin was ever the diplomat and Dwalin was in charge of the army.

            “It will provide her with something constructive to do,” Balin argued. “Since the princess is not a craftsman.”

            “I’m sure she wants to contribute something, Uncle,” Fili argued. “Martial arts are her skill set.” Kili nodded in agreement.

            “Aye,” Dwalin added. “For starters, she can teach the boys to shoot.”

            Thorin frowned. “What do you mean?”

            “She knows archery to a degree none of our boys can ever hope to reach. We’ve got fresh faces coming back almost daily who want to be archers. I’ve been turning them away since I have no-one to train ‘em.” He glanced over at Tauriel. “I think there might be enough of ‘em to give the lass her own unit.”

            Thorin sighed. “What can an Elf teach a Dwarf? Everything about the way we are built, the way we move—all of it—is different.”

            “Aye,” Dwalin agreed. “But even Elves start shooting when they are small.”

            Dís was surprised to hear Dwalin championing Tauriel’s cause. Of everyone at the table, she had been sure that he would be one of the loudest voices against her, as he had been when it was announced that Kili was getting married.

            Several Council members glared at Tauriel. They had been the most vehement against Kili’s marriage and were continuing to try and undermine the couple.

            “As a female, do you not have more important work to see to?” The steely eyed dwarf who spoke, Bragi son of Darri, was a master silversmith from the Iron Hills that Dain had sent as an advisor to his cousin.

             Even though Bragi’s question was asked at her, Tauriel kept her mouth closed. Plus, Dís was pinching her leg, the motion disguised by the mingled fabric of their skirts. Kili, however, was under so such ban and his eyes narrowed at the insinuation that his wife was somehow neglecting their home life.

             “Sir,” his voice was tight, and Thorin was surprised at how cold his tone had become. “Princess Tauriel has been a soldier for 400 years, and Captain of the Royal Guards in King Thranduil’s court for 300 of those years.”

            Fili hid a grin as the man opened his mouth to respond, but Kili wasn’t finished.

              “Every little bit of help available makes Erebor stronger. We were set upon — _deliberately_ — by an army of orcs! We need trained soldiers in order to defend ourselves and she has the skills to offer. Or would you rather we continue relying on Men and King Thranduil for our defense?”

              Bragi shifted in his seat, but didn’t respond, and Thorin mentally conceded that his nephew was right. Letting the elf spend her days wandering Erebor in search of something to do was a massive waste of an invaluable resource. He sighed.

              “Very well. _If_ the other commanders have no objection, she has until summer to prove she can teach.”

                Dwalin nodded, and Thorin sincerely doubted there would be any objections on the army’s side, but around the table, more protests went up. Thorin yelled at them in Khuzdul and the room fell silent. Tauriel’s eyebrow rose, and she glanced at Lady Dís, who gave her a small nod. Tauriel rose and bowed to Thorin.

                 “I will endeavor to do my best, Sire.  I thank you and the Council for this opportunity.” She gathered her skirts and moved to the door.

                Before they had come down that morning, Kili told her that it would be best for her not to stay after or if a decision either way was reached. Having her in the room before the topic concerning her was proposed would already make the Council nervous.

                “If you stay, I can only imaging the rumors that you are spying or something that would start to circulate,” he told her. Tauriel had laughed, but agreed to depart as soon as possible.

              The sentry at the door opened it and she swept out with the dignity only an elf could manufacture. In the room, Fili and Kili shared a quick grin, before Thorin asked what was next on the agenda.

               In the hallway outside the Council Chambers, Tauriel took a deep breath. That almost felt too easy.

 _‘But this is only the beginning,’_ she thought. _‘I have 9 months to prove Dwalin and Kili right and everyone else wrong.’_

 

  *** 


	15. Chapter 15

             None of the other commanders objected to Tauriel teaching, so all the young men interested in learning archery were called back. Altogether, she had 30 trainees. A few were skeptical about taking direction from an elf, but most were just happy to be there. It was too late in the year to be training outdoors, so Tauriel commandeered an abandoned mine for her training hall. Kili and Fili helped her stage the long, narrow room with targets and weapons. She didn’t really need much, since all of her students were absolute beginners.

            But before her classes could even start, however, there were royal duties to attend to. The elves’ New Year fell on the Winter Solstice and Men celebrated theirs one week later. This meant the entire royal family was required to travel first to Mirkwood and then to Dale.

            Thorin grumbled, especially since the elf celebrations started two days before and ended two days after the Solstice. Tauriel was looking forward to spending a few days in her old home, but Lady Dís was merely pensive and didn’t offer any opinion either way.

            When they returned, Tauriel began her classes. The winter proved to be a long one for Tauriel and her class. Her students didn’t always want to take direction from her at first, so she resorted to martial punishments to restore order. She didn’t know that Thorin and Dwalin came to check on her progress from time to time.

            One day, they arrived to find her entire squad doing alternating jumping jacks and push-ups while she circled the room, shooting at the targets. When she ran out of arrows, the students, who were watching her progress carefully, scrambled to their feet to retrieve the arrows and line up with their bows, chests heaving.

            “Aim! Loose!” she barked in Elfish, giving them no time to breathe. Bows were raised and they fired. Most hit the targets, but the archers that missed were forced to do more jumping jacks and push-ups as well as a round of running laps before firing again.

            Dwalin chuckled as he and the king retreated. “The lass isn’t quite the soft touch they thought she’d be.” Thorin had to agree.

            “The boys were talking about it while you all were gone,” Dwalin said, still chuckling. “They forgot the part where she’s been a soldier longer than any of us have been alive.”

            “She’s defiantly pushing them to the limit,” Thorin grudgingly agreed. “They’ll go home curing her now, but if they ever see real battle, they’ll be praising her to the sky.”

            “Aye, that they will,” Dwalin agreed.

            When spring finally arrived, Tauriel moved her squad into the woods outside, where she put them on ponies and had them practicing firing mounted, at a half hidden target. To her surprise, most of them couldn’t ride, so she was now also conducting riding lessons along with the archery.

            Kili found it amusing when she returned each night, exhausted and muttering darkly about her students.

            “How can they not know how to ride?” she demanded one night while Kili brushed out her hair.

            “Well, we do live _inside_ of a mountain, my love,” Kili pointed out, laughing. “We kinda don’t need to know how to ride.”

          Tauriel stared blankly at him for a moment, then laughed. “Yes, that’s true. But you and Fili and Thorin ride.”

            “Yes, but you’re forgetting the circumstances we grew up in. Fili and I spent more time outdoors and traveling than a lot of dwarves. Most of the ones that do travel prefer to walk. Some of your boys are from the Iron Hills or the Misty Mountains or Ered Luin proper. This is the farthest they ever been from home and they likely walked here.”

            Tauriel sighed. “Okay, I will try to have more patience with them.”

            “You’re doing fine. If you go soft on them now, they’ll think you’re giving up.”

            Another night, as spring was drawing to a close she asked, “Do you think Thorin would let me get uniforms for the exhibition?”

            “Tauriel!” Kili laughed. “Just focus on getting them all firing in the same direction.”

            “Oh, we’ve got that I think. Well, maybe I can convince them to braid their beards the same way at least. I want everyone to look like we’re all on the same side.”

            Kili pulled her into his arms with a sound kiss.

            “You’re over thinking it, but that’s why I love you.”

 

***

 

            It was nearly mid-summer before it was warm enough for the exhibition which was being held outdoors. The whole event felt like a festival, and Tauriel was happy to see Bard and Legolas again since they had promised to attend. Fili was glad to see Sigrid and even happier that the dwarf princess had final returned to their homes. There was plenty of revelry on the day, but Tauriel refused to let her squad take part. She wanted them sober for their event.

            Dwalin had a few new trainees of his own to show off and their spear and sword fighting was greeted with much cheering and applause by the audience. Thorin wasn’t really looking forward to Tauriel’s archery show, and couldn’t suppress a sigh as a few of Dwalin’s group came back carrying the archery targets, which they placed randomly around the field. A hush fell over the crowd as Tauriel and her squad arrived on the field on horseback. Thorin was shocked. He glanced at Dwalin.

            “Why—” he started, but Dwalin just shrugged. Kili was almost vibrating with repressed excitement, but he knew Tauriel wasn’t going to start with mounted shooting.

The archers split in the center of the field and dismounted, forming ranks before the oddly spaced targets. Tauriel, dressed in a dark blue version of her old captain’s uniform, her hair braided to match the beards and hair of her squad, called them to attention in Elfish. They turned as one and saluted the king.

            Thorin acknowledged them with a nod, and Tauriel barked another command and they began firing in rolling waves. The first line would fire, then the second, and finally the third. When they were almost out of arrows, half the squad suddenly sprinted down the field and grabbed the targets.

            The crowd gasped as they began running about the field randomly, being fired at by their fellows. When the first set ran out of arrows, they switched. The crowd applauded. The arrows were re-gathered and the targets were placed lengthwise down the field, and the archers mounted. From horseback, she had them firing across one another as they passed the targets, riding in opposite directions. The chances of anyone getting hurt had clearly gone up, and the crowd roared with approval.

            A few of the trainees that had helped set up the targets earlier came back onto the field to move the targets about randomly.  It looked like a near melee of dwarves, arrows, and ponies and the crowd loved it. Finally, Tauriel remounted, and called her squad to order. Still mounted, they lined up behind her, facing the king. She didn’t turn, but when they were still she called:

            “Salute!” And all the horses put their right foreleg back and lowered their heads. Tauriel and her soldiers bowed as well and the crowd stood up to cheer.

            Thorin hated to admit it, but it was plain Tauriel was more than capable of training soldiers. Her boys were barely breathing hard and the ponies not at all. He glanced at Dís, who looked smug. Dwalin and Balin were nodding in approval, and his nephews were screaming their heads off. Even Bard and Legolas looked impressed.

            He stood up and the crowd fell silent. “It would seem that Erebor has added an archery squad to her army.”

            Tauriel and her troops dismounted and offered a one knee bow to the king. If Thorin was willing to finally accept her, even if it was only for this, perhaps her time in Erebor wouldn’t be so difficult in the future. She stood and instructed the archers to make sure their ponies were properly stabled before they fell into an ale barrel and she would be checking.

            “If I don’t like what I see, you won’t either!” She called after them. Kili had waited long enough. He ran down the dais to her and pulled her down for a kiss.

            “That was perfect!” He cheered, following her to the stables. Tauriel smiled at him.

            “Yes. I think it was. And I think I may end up with more students that I can deal with.”

            “Oh, you’ll be fine,” Kili assured her. “Besides, I’ll be right here if you need me.”

            “Promise?”  
            “For a long as I live.”

            Tauriel smiled again. No, the future wouldn’t be just alright. It would be perfect. She leaned down and kissed Kili again.

            “Just what I needed to hear.” Tauriel patted the horse on the neck. “Let’s get her stabled, and I need an ale myself.”

            Kili laughed and happily followed his wife into the stables.

 

 

  ***

 

 

THE END

ChibiMethos 2014

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's it! ^_^ I hope you enjoyed it.
> 
> I was distracted while I was writing this by a Dís/Thranduil "did anything happen on New Years?" Plot Bunny 
> 
> Its just an insert, (and not smutty, I can't write smut, sorry) but if anyone wants to read it, I'll be happy to post it.


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